Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1887-09-22
RAISING CALVES.
oAriy Maturity tho Result OF Intclllsel
Feeding and Good Care.

oariy Maturity tho Result Of Intclllsens
Feeding and Good Caro-.
As many farmers want the milk Of
their cows for making butler and
choose. they can not afford to raise
the calves on it and by using combina-
tons with other foods they can grow
them with less expense. II the milk
OF the dairy is made into cheese. then
the whey may be profitably fed to
calves. provided it is mixed with other
food that will supply what has been
taken from the milk in making cheese
Whey is simply the sugar of milk. and
is very important element of food.
but should no more be fed alone to
calves or hogs than sugar should be
the diet of man. Whey. before it un-
dergOes too much fermentation. is a
valuable fattening food. possessing the
elements of fat in a soluble and digesti-
bic condition; but as fat is only one con-
stituent of the animal body. life and
growth can not be supported for any
considerable length of time upon a
food that lays on only fat. Muscle
forming food should be mixed with
the whey 10 compensate for the cheese
that has been taken from it. This
may be found in oil meal. Oat, barley.
or pea peal, or wheat middlings. Oil
meal is ono of the best foods to mix
with whey. as it possesses twenty-five
per cent of muscle-forlning food with
ten per cent of oil, and is rich in bone
building elements. Pea meal is very
similar. except its lack of oil. The
former is u laxative and the latter q
constipating food, and. therefore. they
are excellent to feed together. The
pea meal should be cooked to
render it easily digcstcd. and
oil meal should be dissolved in
hot water before mixing with the
whey. Wheat mlddlings should also
be cooked before mixing with whey. TO
produce the best result. The feeder
should begin with only two tablespoon
fuls of oil meal per day. to cali. but
may use more of the other additional
foods. After the calf is month old,
then use four ounces of oil meal and
the same quantity of pea meal or mid
dlings per gallon of whey, and have all
we'll mixed together when given TO the
calf Upon this diet and grass, we
have raised very fine calves-hcifers
that would weigh four hundred pounds
at six months. and by keeping them
well afterwards. would weigh rs much
as common cow and come in at two
years old. Such heifers are worth
fifty dollars at two years old. while
those kept on the pinch and starvc
system are not wOr h half the money.
If the milk is made into butter. then
skinned milk can be fed to the
calves. which is much more valuable
than whey. Skinned milk is only de-
prived of its oil. and yet cont,ins its
most valuable elemcn. as fOOd-the
a'ein or cheese TO lay on muscle. and
the phosphate of lime to form the
bones and frame of the calf 1t also
contains the wiley, and is, therefore.
almost erfect food for the young
animal. Judicious feeding with skim
med milk will raise a calf with fine de-
velopment of frame and muscle. even
better than food of greater fattening
quality. If the quantity of milk is
small. use little oil meal or wheat
middlings with it; the latter is excel
lent for that purpose, and is generally
the cheapest. Corn meal, unless thor
oughly cooked, should not be fed to
calves. as it usually produces scours.
Farmers are apt to be too careless
about raising good stock-bcgrudge a
small extra expense in food and care,
and thus have animals not worth even
what they cost. Twenty to thirty per
cent. added to ordinary food and care
will double the value of the young
animal, and this slight additional cost
will produce a profit on the whole tx.
penditure. One-third added to the
weight of an animal increases tho
value of its whole weight fifty per cent
on account of quality. Farmers must
strive for early maturity of their ami
mails. and this can only be accom-
plished by intelligent feeding and
good care. - Nat, onal Liue- Stock